What came to my attention is the number who were wearing long black gloves. I wonder whether that was common fashion or just a way to cover hairy arms?
I agree with the others that this is a predecessor to websites such as this one. Both serve the purpose of answering questions and providing support, as well as a forum for sharing pictures of oneself.
Sami
As to ancient civilizations, in the Bible there is the passage from Deuteronomy 22:5 warning against crossdressing: "the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment"Originally Posted by Bobbi46
So there must have been enough men wearing women's garments to make it necessary to issue a condemnation.
In Greek mythology Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, from whom we get the word hermaphrodite, after joining his body with his female lover, had both male and female characteristics. In the festivals honoring him, in order to simulate being both male and female, the women would wear men's clothes and the men would wear women's clothes. In this statue of Hermaphroditus from the 4th century, we see a woman lifting her dress to reveal male genitals:
Thank you so much for sharing this resource. The nostalgic look back is fun in itself, but what struck me was how similar to much of the content here were the letters, and I mean strikingly so.
As a child growing up in New York City you run into some unusual and quirky stuff. Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, governor of New York and New Jersey (1701-1708) was stated to be a cross dresser. There is a portrait of him attired as a woman hanging in the New York Historical Society. On occasion I have perused the Internet and read/viewed these old magazines. As a teenager in the late 1950's and early 1960's there wasn't anything available to read in my neighborhood. You were great if you could get your hands on a copy of Playboy. Thanks for posting.
Very interesting stuff! 1961!
What caught me about this link is that I was crossdressing at that time and thought that I must have been psychopathically disturbed. It took another thirty years before I came to realize that I was not alone and that my behavior was not a sickness.
Great thread, and reading. Thanks for posting,
Ineke
Been going on since the Stone Age...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAS2SZyMU5c
Transvestia was a magazine published by pioneering trans activist Virginia Prince. The first issue was published in 1960.
wow great thanks for the link looks really really interesting..i have managed to acquire quite a few issues of the british 70's mag 'world of transvestism'. a little later on but still i love looking at stuff from previous eras.
the-world-of-transvestism-vol-4-no-9.jpg
Thank you for posting these very interesting historical materials.
GeorgeA
formerly Salerba
"a miad" Man-in-a-Dress
Seems we have had a few nostalgic posts here lately. I wonder what brought that on but I am enjoying this latest trend. I like vintage stuff.
See folks? So even back then if a TG was confident and polite, people were accepting. And apparently they both worked, made a living for themselves and lived mostly normal lives.
How is that any different than today?
It takes a true Erin to be a pain in the assatar.
Absolutely fascinating...thanks for posting, Linda.
Interesting. As a young teenager friends of mine and I would on some rare occasions get a hold of a Playboy magazine and we would look at it with adolescent fascination. I remember seeing small ads generally in the back pages where there was a drawing of a younger androgynous looking person with a dreamy look in (his/her) face and a dream bubble over (his/her) head. In that dream bubble was another drawing of several women, typically one in panties, bra, garter belt and hose and a second in a frilly dress. The advertisement was for Michael Salem's TV/TS Boutique in New York City. I had an inkling about what it was and I was always fascinated and aroused by the prospects of such a place. That is about as close to any crossdressing literature in the 60s.
I'll have to take a look. Used to have some magazines from back then. In 61 I was out and about as a girl. I think in some ways it was easier to CD then. Clothes were more modest and dresses didn't fit as they do today. At that time I had a small waist and wore size 6 dresses. I think I owned maybe one pair of women's pants. With skirts that came below the knee and slips just above showing when standing. Girls worked at letting the lace show just the right amount. I did have a pencil skirt that fit like a glove. Actually my measurements were not that far off from what was considered ideal. Yes we had ideal measurements back then. 36-23-36 or some where around there. I think mine was around 36-25-37 or there about. One thing you couldn't do is wear a bullet bra in guy mode. Bullet bras were interesting. I knew more than one girl who stuffed the end with tissues. I found some foam rubber falsies at the 5 and 10. Most of the girls that I knew wore regular bras as I did. It was perfectly acceptable to wear a white bra under a white blouse. I had a light yellow shirt waist dress. I always made sure I wore a pretty white bra that could be seen. It was a June Cleaver type dress. I loved to dance in it because it had a skirt that would twirl out. I wore a half slip that would also twirl. Little did the guys watching realize I was one of them.
Michael Salem's Boutique... Let your dreams become reality.. was a frequent advertiser in Penthouse, I don't recall seeing any of their ads in Playboy. Maybe Playboy thought their readers were not inclined to wear panties. Remember Forum magazine/... ok forget penthouse letters amputee fetish letters ... I remember reading stories about men who wore panties. I knew I wasn't alone. then I found adult babies. a whole nother world.
Linda P. -- thanks so much for starting this post. I really enjoyed the glimps into the past. The digital archives are a treasure trove!!
What a great time to be alive.
Those wonderful clothes.
Work on your elegance,
and beauty will follow.
What an interesting set of letters. I loved it. Those of us who started crossdressing before the internet age, ( also called the dark ages lol ) can really appreciate these letters and pictures. Just awesome to read and look at, can't get enough of it. Loved it.
Michael Salem most often advertised in Penthouse, plus several other adult magazines (Hustler was another, I think.) I never did see ads for MS in Playboy.
"You are who you are, that's all right with me,
But I am who I am, that's all I can be."
-Trace Atkins, "Rough and Ready"
===========================================
Just call me Kaylie
Thanks for posting that! As someone who is a bit older, I can remember a lot of that stuff. I still have magazines and books from back in the 1960's and 1970's that I bought when they were current.
My name is Carol.
Must have been a real challenge to find large enough clothing to fit. I remember my mother having a difficult time finding fashionable shoes. (60's) Size 8 took some time to find for her. I suspect that many times, she wore ill-fitting shoes, which gave her bunions. She was exceptionally demanding about us kids wearing proper fitting shoes. Us going barefoot, was almost verboden. Now I know why. (And very glad that she did it)
Now that I have that page bookmarked, I see loads of reading in my future. Thank you for tracking that down!
I don't dress up because I want to be a woman, I dress up to make me happy.
I love Greek mythology, I had to do some extensive reading to learn more after reading your post.
Here is another statue from the 3rd century.
Attachment 286742
The archives have all of the "Ladylike" magazines by Joann Roberts. In the old day I used to have them sent to my secret Post Office Box at Mailboxes.etc Boy , access to crossdressing history and advice sure is easier now. I guess all this Internet stuff isn't just a fad!
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